It’s getting to the point where you need to clear a good four hours off your schedule to see a major movie. Nobody can tell a good story in under two and a half hours and combined with the trailers, the drive time, and the need to get there a bit early, we are spending longer at the theater than we do watching the Oscars, which is pretty scary.
One filmmaker who is sick of the longer and longer run times is J.J. Abrams. He’s making a stand with Star Trek. It’s going to be two damn hours and not a second longer. Well, maybe a second longer, but not much more than that. As he tells the MTV Movie Blog, “I’m sick of these two hours and forty-five minute movies. Seriously, it’s like I don’t have enough time to stay two hours and forty-five minutes. I’m exhausted just saying that twice. I can’t stand it.” So, he’s going to buck the trend of movies that seem to be getting longer and longer for no real reason.
I’m a firm believer that many movies would be improved with tighter editing. Something like The Dark Knight works at a longer running time and I remember watching L.A. Confidential and wishing it was twice as long, but they are the exceptions. Other directors need to keep one eye on the clock and it’s good to hear Abrams will be a vanguard in that brigade.
